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Our Challenge

Today, more than 400,000 Canadians and their families are coping with Alzheimer’s disease (AD). For our aging population, never before has the risk of developing AD or another neurodegenerative disease been as high. By 2040, these debilitating brain diseases could surpass cancer as the second leading cause of death worldwide.

Our challenge is to change the course of these diseases – to prevent, eliminate, and ultimately repair the damage they cause. There is currently no cure, but there is hope. And there is progress.

The Tanz Centre is leading groundbreaking research in neurodegenerative diseases to understand them at the molecular level. Together, our scientists have an unparalleled track record of success, and we are confident that a day when far fewer people will suffer from devastating brain diseases is within our grasp.

Led by internationally-renowned researcher, Peter St George-Hyslop, the Tanz Centre has generated many of the world’s most important discoveries about the genetics of Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s disease), dementia and other diseases.

Our mission is to discover, applyanddisseminateknowledge that will lead to:

The prevention of neurodegenerative diseases;

The diagnosis and cure of individuals afflicted with these disorders;

The repair of nervous systems damaged by these diseases; and

An easing of the burden of the caregivers and families of patients with these illnesses.

Our research includes a broad spectrum of neurodegenerative diseases, including: